A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey, a sensational murder case that frustrated police for nearly a decade.The suspect was identified as John Mark Karr, 42, by Lin Wood, the Ramsey family attorney, as well as a law enforcement official familiar with the case who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to discuss the case.A source close to the investigation told the Associated Press that Karr had confessed to elements of the crime. But a senior Thai police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak with reporters, said Karr denied any connection to her murder when he was arrested at his downtown Bangkok apartment Wednesday.Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul said Karr was being held pending the arrival of American officials, who were expected to escort Karr back to the United States in the next few days.... http://www.usatoday.com

The prospect that a triumphal Hezbollah militia will give up its weapons slumped yesterday, with the Lebanese government backing away from a vague promise to disarm it, and a promised international force showing no interest in the mission. The Lebanese Cabinet was largely silent on the issue at a meeting yesterday, where it agreed to begin deploying 15,000 soldiers today to replace departing Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. In keeping with its own commitment to deploy its army, Lebanon early today began moving convoys south toward the border with Israel, Reuters reported. Trucks, armored troop carriers and jeeps were streaming south through the town of Nabatiyeh and were expected to start crossing the Litani River shortly. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, said in an interview published yesterday that it was up to the Lebanese, not the international community, to force the Iranian-armed Islamist militia to surrender its missiles and other heavy weapons. ...http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060817-120955-9152r.htm

The number of roadside bombs planted in Iraq rose in July to the highest monthly total of the war, offering more evidence that the anti-American insurgency has continued to strengthen despite the killing of the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.Along with a sharp increase in sectarian attacks, the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January. The deadliest means of attack, roadside bombs, made up much of that increase. In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were found.The bomb statistics — compiled by American military authorities in Baghdad and made available at the request of The New York Times — are part of a growing body of data and intelligence analysis about the violence in Iraq that has produced somber public assessments from military commanders, administration officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill....http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt8_17_06.htm

The unsubstantiated terror charges against five Arab-American men for buying prepaid cellular telephones have drawn fire over police overreaction and racial profile."I think (prosecutors) are stuck in a corner and looking for a safe place," Imad Hamad of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Michigan told Reuters on Wednesday, August 16."If I was them, I would say a mistake was done, and the police overreacted."Authorities have dropped terror charges against Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, both 20, after they proved to have no terrorism ties.They were arrested after they drove to Ohio to buy around 600 cell phones and police found a security guide for an Arab airline in their vehicle.Prosecutors claim that the untraceable cell phones being purchased were valuable tools for terror groups and might serve as detonators for bombs....http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-08/16/04.shtml

The Israeli army began handing over positions to the U.N. early Thursday, stepping up its withdrawal from southern Lebanon after the Lebanese government agreed to deploy troops near Israel's border for the first time in 40 years. The Lebanese Cabinet decision fell short of agreement on disarming the Shiite Muslim militant group, which has insisted it has the right to defend Lebanese territory as long as Israeli troops remain in the country. More than 50 percent of the areas Israel holds has been transferred to the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, the Israeli army said, adding the process would occur in stages and would depend on a stronger U.N. force as well as "the ability of the Lebanese army to take effective control of the area."...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel

A variant of the H5N1 bird flu strain found in southern China caused outbreaks in poultry in Thailand and Laos last month, suggesting the virus was re-introduced through trade, a United Nations agency said. Avian flu killed two people in Thailand during the past three weeks in provinces where the virus sickened fowl in the country's first outbreak this year. H5N1 was also found in birds on farms near the Laotian capital, Vientiane. New infections create chances for the virus to mutate into a pandemic form. The outbreaks in Thailand's Nakhon Phanom province and Laos were caused by a variant not detected previously in either country, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in an e- mailed statement today. ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a73m2NQx2PDM&refer=top_world_news